Strange Respite
by Whiteling
Summary: AU. There are many worlds beyond ours waiting to be discovered. Dipper escapes his obsessed kidnapper, only to get lost in the woods, fall through a hidden portal and straight into another world. Will he find his way home?
1. Recall

_He'd escaped. At long last, it had taken a lot longer and more cunning than he thought, but at least he was away from his tormentor. All it took was a little coaxing his kidnapper to dress up nice, they were going to have dinner together, like a little date for the two of them. Followed by a care-free drinking game; sort of a small competition to see who would last - and some sleeping powders he'd found in the cupboard. That must've been how the man had drugged him and stole him away from home._

 _Next, he'd pretended to gag on the taste of the champagne, this amused the older man, Bill, who'd reassured the boy he'd get used to it before taking a long swig of his own drink. A few glasses later, the man was involuntarily confessing his supposed undying love for the boy and how he's willing to anything and everything to keep him for himself alone. Finally as he leaned in for a kiss, he slumped forward, out cold. The boy shook him making sure he was fast asleep, before finding a way out. He tried the front door but it was locked then remembered the keys in the drawers. So he got them and escaped out the door like a fox being chased down by hunting dogs._

 _Yet now the boy had lost his way in his frightened flight and found himself glancing around, wondering where to go next and where to hide that he'd unknowingly backed up under an arbor… only to fall right through it, a blinding white flash and down a steep hill. He rolled through on wet soil and leaves before landing on his left side. And right in the middle of something straight out of something he'd read._

 _Once he lifted his bangs out of the way and froze at the sight. All around him was chaos, people screaming, did he just get caught up in a gang war?!_

 _But then the place looked like a small village and the locals looked like… was this some kind of hidden hostel for people with dwarfism? It was the only logical thing he could think of._

 _The sound. The ominous clicking and clacking, shining purple eyes._

 _Next thing he knew he'd been shoved into a large wicker basket with several of the natives. Some were young, some were full grown yet they all bore the identical expressions of fear and despair._

 _Was this it?_

And he woke up, he was in some small makeshift bed with worn blankets. He didn't dare open his eyes yet. Then he heard footsteps fast approaching.

Oh no, Bill had found him and had brought him back. Now he'll be forced to adapt to an awful life, forced to forget about seeing his family and home ever again…

"Up you get!" An unfamiliar voice chided. Wait, that didn't sound at all like -

Then sunlight streamed into the room, nearly blinding Dipper and causing him to cry out in pain/alarm. It was so bright at first.

"You know full well the slaves remove the food from the main table in _one_ hour!"

Whoever it was hurried away, he finally opened his eyes in time to see one of the castle residents walk out of the room, layered robes sweeping the old patterned floor.

Oh wait, now he remembers…

After the large black crab/beetle creatures captured him and the small people, they'd brought him before the castle residents. He still didn't understand why – they'd spoken in another language aside from English – yet they spared him the fate as the others. Drained in the chamber of life they'd said, it gave him an ominous feeling. They definitely had something to gain from him being alive and well, he didn't know yet only that it had something to do with one of his relatives.

In the meantime, he'd been assigned under the watchful eye to one of the denizens – one of the few, he'd assumed was one from a handful of females.

She told him that perhaps one day he may return, but for now try to make the best of the situation and above all, not to forget his past. For it'll help him survive.

Will he ever see his family and home again? Who knows? It was only a matter of time.


	2. Determination

The first thing Bill noticed once he awakened was that he had a massive hangover. And that he was lying face down on his sofa.

Instantly his thoughts strayed to Pinetree. Where was he?

Then he remembered. The dinner they shared, how his beloved begged to try out the champagne. The boy's cute reaction to the drink. He'd laughed and reassured his sapling that he'll get used to the taste in time. But Bill thought he only took two of three glasses of it himself. Furthermore, he wasn't usually that lightweight.

Maybe the boy went to get a snack, but he wasn't in the , perhaps he was waiting for him in his room. Oh, the tease...

But he it was empty. He wasn't anywhere in the house.

A prickle of fear went through him like a knife.

Yet he had to make sure...

No! The front door was open, he's gone!

Instantly, his hands became fists. It was all a trick! But if Pinetree thinks he can escape that easily he's got another thing coming!

He stalked out the door and searched the area. There! Foot prints, he began to follow them…

 _ **Boom.**_

Lightning flashed and the rain fell down, washing away the tracks and angering Bill even more.

The worst part? He had little time in this shape… oh but he'll find the boy, make no mistake about that.

* * *

She knew he was bad news the moment she saw him. That one afternoon, her mother had taken her grocery shopping with her as an excuse to 'clear their heads' when she literally bumped into this creep.

The man had glowered at her even when she apologized. Then a wisp of memory manifested in her mind, giving her goosebumps; she'd seen him before.

As they began loading everything into the car, Mabel glanced back over her shoulder and noticed the man watching them before he walked away. If looks could kill, she and her mom would be dead.

Now she had at least a possible suspect. Though she had troubles of her own as well.

It took nearly a month before she figured out what her parents had been up to. By then she'd confronted them about it and they'd admitted they were worried that she was losing sleep and health over the disappearance of her brother, and that before the next school year they would take her to a psychiatrist.

But Mabel wasn't giving up, especially when she'd overheard them talking, thinking about sending her to a relative for the summer. Perhaps so that she could get away from all the sorrow and lingering loss of her twin.

No. That's the last straw, she's not going anywhere without her brother. She was determined to find a clue and rescue him somehow, someway.

Her father and mother would be sending her on a bus to Oregon in three months, Mabel had to hasten her sleuthing.


	3. Hidden motives

She was fine with all the others that used to come and go into the Castle of the crystal time and again. She was fine because they were simply strangers until she began to know several of them. Observed how different their lives were from her own species, and above all the jubilant gift they had but was denied to her own race due to Imperial law: Parenthood. Any possible offspring could easily become competition for the throne and their aging Emperor wanted none of it.

Her clan had come to grips with the facts: some of them didn't fancy carrying a child to full term, let alone the pains of childbirth. A handful of them in the centuries that followed had opted for a more…. agamic lifestyle. While others, those like her and her allies simply had celibacy thrust upon them involuntarily.

Part of the Barrister once believed such emotions of pity and motherly affection belonged best with her literal other half. She and her 'sisters' were at least two decades younger than the original clan, so it wouldn't have come as a surprise that they didn't mingle with the rest per say. Nevertheless, there was a time, years ago when she gladly accepted the seductive advances from one of the others. As a result, she conceived – and it filled her with an inexplicable joy.

However that felicity was short lived, she'd miscarried eleven weeks later. Why on Thra she wasn't banished or possibly executed after it was discovered remained virtually a mystery. The loss of her unborn young still left her woebegone, a pain that she'll never truly heal from emotionally.

Yet she never stopped wondering and yearning for a child of her own, despite how impossible it seems.

And then fate dealt them a rather enigmatic hand.

It happened when the Garthim brought back their latest catches. The boy at first glance had looked like one of the gelflings. That wasn't the case at all. No, he bore a disturbingly great resemblance to the human man who had once ventured here nearly three decades ago. The researcher had visited and studied them respectfully but soon discovered the Empire's darkest secret, so he was sent to the Chamber of life. Except something chilling occurred when the Scientist had been about to perform the draining process…the human managed to escape, but the memory of whatever happened in that time never failed to make the Scientist blanch.

When the child had been first brought in before the court, he was utterly terrified of the clan and kept trying to avoid them - figuratively from laying a talon on him. The sentry, of course, accused the General of beating the child before they could even get answers out of him, which the temperamental warrior blatantly denied.

Their ruler's first impulse was to have the boy drained but when he revealed his full name, it was met with astonishment. After a verbal interrogation, another devious plan came to mind: The nestling was young, impressionable and as one of her allies' correctly guessed – a runaway. It wouldn't be hard to sway his allegiance then manipulate him into revealing the whereabouts of their escaped quarry.

And so his majesty left the human boy under the Barrister's watch. For the moment he'd be doing simple tasks and errands until a passage is found to the human researcher's whereabouts.

He'd looked apprehensive. What could be more natural? After all, the boy was still high-strung from the evening's events.

When he'd unknowingly voiced his desire to go home, she gently asked him if he knew his way from the castle to his domicile. The child looked out the window, his face falling at seeing the barren area of Skarith. She'd told him not fret, that surely he'll see his family someday soon. Which was part true, if the spies were successful in finding a gateway to the human realm, whether it's the child's way or the researcher's past footsteps. That was just the tip of the difficult part; influencing the human boy without brute force or visible malice would be a cinch. Yet, she'd always had a maternal soft spot for young ones.

"Best keep the happier memories fresh in your mind, it'll help you survive, small one." she advised him,

The child said nothing, he only looked down at his feet.

"You need not fear me, I'll treat you well." she'd lightly patted his head. "Now, wait for me outside. I'm going to change into my nightclothes."

The boy obeyed; was that a look of relief on his young face? After she was done removing all the layers of her robes, she let him back in. When he did, she was already dressed in a long nightgown holding out some spare blankets and a cushion to him, they were worn but they would have to do.

"Now get some rest." she said as she doused the lamps, "We'll discuss your tasks in the morning."

The child nodded solemnly and crawled atop the small mattress in the corner. Tomorrow was another day.


	4. Seeking solace

He still can't believe that he wasn't just killed on the spot.

In the makeshift cage, he'd tried speaking to the diminutive locals. Some looked at him warily, a handful of the little people asked him questions in a quirky language, parental concern in their large eyes.

" _Odakle vaš dolazi iz, malena_?"

" _A gdzie są twoi rodzice_?"

"I…" the boy shook his head helplessly, "I'm sorry, I can't understand you!"

He suddenly that they were now staring at something over his shoulder with horror. What was it?

That was when he became aware that he, the small locals and the huge beetle/crabs weren't the only things in the room. Three different voices - and he jumped when a scratchy, nasal voice exclaimed in surprise: " _Den boró na pistépso mou iret!_ "

His first glimpse of the castle residents sent a chill down his spine. They closely resembled overgrown vultures – six to seven feet tall if he had to guess – in layered robes and sharp teeth.

Less than five minutes later he was pulled out of the basket, he tried to run only for a large, bulky one in Aegean blue armor to grab him by his hair and drag him back.

"Don't hurt me!" the child gasped fearfully to the three.

"Another human! The Emperor will want to see this."

"…Though I don't recall the former having such a strange marking on the forehead." one of them remarked.

At the words he covered his birthmark with his hands uncomfortably. "I can't help it!"

"Too small." The large one growled, "He's nothing but a scrawny whelp."

This was too much. He'd just escaped a madman that had been obsessed with him, and now he had to contend with these monsters that for all he knew, planned to eat him?!

"Just let me go!" the human boy pleaded as they started dragging him into the shadowy doorway, "You never have to see me again!"

"And suffer the consequences for freeing a prisoner?! Not a chance!" the one with a hook for a hand snarled back at the child.

 _Prisoner?!_

"Well, General, what have you got there?" a voice taunted up ahead near the end of the corridor, "Some small mammals you've caught with your own teeth?"

It was another one of the uncharacteristically large buzzards. Sage colored chest armor, hunter green robes a closer look hinted that this one might be a _she_. The shrewish female stared down the shivering boy being held by the General.

"A child? That's certainly an accomplishment." she said sarcastically.

"Correction! A _human_ child!" The large one snapped at her, "Hold your tongue Sentry, while you can still use it!"

So humans have been here before? He wondered. But where are they now?

By then he'd been pulled into an enormous area with a high ceiling several drapings and to his great alarm, more of the overgrown vultures which stopped their talking as soon as they caught sight of him. There appeared to be fifteen, more or less.

They regarded him with fear, suspicion or disgust. Except for three of them. One male in red smirked derisively and two females that watched the boy with looks akin to pity. He shrank a little under the gazes.

At the very center back of the room was what he could describe as an ornately built gold throne on a raised dais. Seated upon it was one he guessed must be the leader of these beings, dressed in robes of crimson, gold and royal blue. He looked far older and gaunt compared to the others. His grey eyes narrowed in a cold calculating way.

"Show some respect, runt and bow!" the large brute behind him growled.

He reached a talon towards the boy and as he did the child cringed with a barely audible cry.

"I saw him cowering as you and the slave master dragged him away from the Garthim enclosure," the Sentry accused, "You two have been beating him before the Emperor could pass sentence haven't you?!"

Out of the corner of his eye, the boy could see one of the females – the one in purple robes and chestnut hair clench her hands into fists and glower at the two mentioned skeksis.

"I've done nothing of the sort!" The General spat indignantly at the Sentry. "The whelp was already terrified the moment he was pulled out of the Garthim basket!"

"ENOUGH!" A high, harsh voice ordered. The voice could only belong to the Emperor.

They all fell silent as their ruler commanded the child to speak. Nervous, he introduced himself and the reactions he got surprised him.

" _Pines?_!" The name stunned them all. At once, the others started whispering excitedly.

Wait, did they know his family? Why else would they react to his last name?

Next, the Emperor began to interrogate him and the boy answered as best as he could. Even more so as he gestured for several of the others forward. One in gold sneered at the boy while the female looked at him with concern. He could only stare as they conversed in a foreign language. It all seemed too strange but he couldn't risk making them angry. Finally they drew away.

"Very well, human boy," The Emperor spoke calmly, "You will remain in the castle for the time being."

However, he would earn his keep by serving them, obeying their laws/orders – and although it wasn't voiced the threat of harm was there should he try anything 'unwise'. Furthermore he was placed under the watch of the Barrister.

That was when the slave driver roughly shoved him towards the female in robes of purple and cobalt.

"Come little one." she softly urged, with a single movement of her head.

Uncertainly he followed her.

He didn't really want to go into her boudoir. He felt so threadbare and so… horribly dirty. While these creatures were floridly dressed.

Outside the window of her bedroom, that mountain range wasn't and isn't on any map he'd seen. Then again, if he got lost what if his abductor ran into him? His best choice would to stay where he is right now.

Also this female was so far the only one who demonstrated virtual kindness to him. Her brownish gold eyes were full of solace and sorrow. For all their finery and luxury, it was unable to hide the primeval savagery in the eyes of the other ones.

As wary as he feels around these creatures, they did offer to send him home.


	5. Perespective

No mistake their shapes do look monstrous – but of course saying so out loud without request would be considered rude. However there's still some truth that when something frightens humans they tend to destroy it. The very same can be said for many sentient beings.

On the bright side, he wasn't chained up or locked away in a single room in this place, like it was with- but he didn't want to think about that any more than he should.

In the day he's given several tasks to do alongside the slaves by each of the castle residents – honestly, it wasn't any different than doing household chores back home.

Sure, the General, the slave driver and the Scout gave him every nasty little job they could find for him to do and the former did snarl or threaten to strike him several times; just not when the Emperor or the Barrister were looking. He already knew that the Chamberlain was dead set on getting answers from him via honeyed words, but the boy could see right through them a mile away. The Scientist gave him the creeps and he dared not step into the laboratory unless he was ordered to do so.

There were a few that didn't seem to mind his presence or simply only wanted him to do his tasks and not be bothered such as the Historian and the Treasurer. The high priest made no secret of his cold suspicion towards the human child, though the boy had not actual reason to hold ill will towards him or against the others. Even so he felt wary of the ones that closely resembled males, unaware that one of the females took notice of his subtle body language. He made doubly sure of how to address them properly, having already made an honest error by mistaking the Ornamentalist for one of the females. He'd gotten quite the tongue-lashing for that one, and another for referring to them informally by their names instead of their occupation.

And then there were the other three females aside from the mordant Scout – rogues, as the Scientist referred to them. The Sentry was haughty and would occasionally get into blunt verbal quarrels with the irascible General, the reserved Herald kept her eye on her work with maps (and on the Ritual master), while the sphinxlike Barrister spoke clearly and treated him with warm almost nurturing manners despite his misgivings about being touched. And it was annoying to have her preen his head with her beak instead of grooming it through with thin combs. Those teeth are _sharp_!

Not that it wasn't appreciated, but the fact remains that he won't be here too long if there was any truth to the Emperor's given orders.

He's also gotten quite the shock when he found out their true age. He's unknowingly responded to a remark of the Ornamentalist while he was speaking to the Herald.

"You don't look a day older than…sixty?" then he covered his mouth in fear. He was probably going to be punished for speaking out of term like this.

To his astonishment, the two actually tittered girlishly. What was so funny?

"Flatterer!" The exuberant Ornamentalist tossed his head with a boastful smirk before leaving.

"What?"

The Herald was quick to answer when she saw the confusion on the boy's face, "We're much longer livers than that. Nine hundred and ninety seven years to be precise, my sisters and I are at least two decades younger than the others. So as you see compared to us you and the rest of your species are juvenile."

"That's comforting."

At night, however, sometimes he'd get flashbacks about his past kidnapping that made him sick to his stomach. He was fairly certain they noticed, especially when the Barrister asked him questions about his home and family.

Maybe it was the loneliness and sorrow that made him confide in her. Saying that he didn't want to go outside alone – it had to have been terrible, if he expressed that wouldn't even mind an armed escort with the brutish general.

"Don't you want to see them?" The Barrister questioned, "Your mother, father and sister I mean to say?"

He nods, eyes full of yearning.

"Then what is it?"

He was quiet for a moment. "Too ashamed."

"You know that the court – mainly the Emperor will be demanding answers soon. Speaking from experience perhaps you'd feel better if you just tell me what you've gone through before the Garthim brought you here."

"Thanks, but I'm not ready just yet." He shook his head. "No, no it won't do any good. I'm far from him and right now that's the only thing that matters."

And that was it, she let him retire for the evening but she had to speak to the Herald.

"Rin, you wished to see me?"

"Yes, Liat. During his stay here I've made several observations. Have you not noticed how much he fears all those that resemble males?"

"But what did happen to him that made him so afraid despite never having heard of us? If the Chamberlain's speculation of the child being a runwaway is anything to go on, I can only assume someone had hurt the boy."

"Well we won't be getting anything out of him by force," The Herald responded, "Continue the way you are with him, win his trust and surely he'll gather the courage to speak."

"I only hope he does confide in me before the crystal bats find what they've been commanded to reveal soon."


	6. In our tears

The revelation soon came for the boy, whose true name was revealed to be Mason – which in their opinion was much more preferable to the nickname the child said he was called by his own kin. However only the females would call him by his name, the others just called him 'boy', 'whelp' or 'human child'.

It just another evening. The nightmares made him curl into a ball, except this time the sound of rustling bed sheets woke him. He sat up in time to see SkekLiat, the Barrister getting out of bed.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you!" He stammered.

But she didn't answer, that's peculiar.

"Barrister? SkekLiat?" Mason whispered questioningly. "Liat?"

Again she didn't answer. Instead she continued walking to the door, opened it and stepped out.

What was going on? Was she ignoring him?

He probably shouldn't, but the curiosity overpowered all logic. Quickly put on his shoes and went after her.

* * *

SkekRin the Herald had been returning to her bedroom after relieving herself and had paused having heard someone sobbing and whimpering. Odd, that didn't sound like the Chamberlain…

Something passed her.

No surprise there. The slaves would sometimes mill about and she knew a handful of the few that would be still awake… only to be startled at the sight of the human boy round the corner and almost crash into her.

"What are you doing out here?"

"It's the Barrister!" he pointed behind her.

She turned and sure enough, there was the Barrister steadily making her way down the hall as if in a trance.

"Oh no, not again." groaned the herald then explained, "She's sleepwalking. Come, we must retrieve her someone other than the slaves take notice."

It only took them a few steps to catch up then gently lead her back to her bedchambers. As they did, she noticed the boy's eyes appeared so much older compared to his true age and he was barely an infant compared to the Skeksis.

"You're not going to ask me why I was shaking and crying in the middle of the night?" He'd felt embarrassed to cry in front of her – or any of the others for that matter.

The Herald shook her head. "To be frank: it's none of my business. You'll speak up better sooner than later before his Majesty starts grilling you for the truth. Now do try and get some sleep while it's still dark."

* * *

At one point after she'd finished her errands, Mason burst into tears, stunning the Barrister for a moment. She asked him what was wrong.

The youngster shivered, grimaced and took several deep shuddering breaths before asking if there was somewhere they could speak in private.

Finally he broke down and disclosed his tragic story. Months before he came here, he'd been stolen away and kept prisoner by a degenerate lunatic that had been obsessed with the poor boy. He'd pleaded and begged but the knave refused to let him go. And in that space of time, that… scoundrel did something terrible to him that he could barely voice it aloud. And he didn't have to, his body language told her the horrors he'd suffered at his abductor's hands for weeks.

He recalled how it became too much for him to bear, to the point that if he didn't get away from this maniac somehow, he surely would've involuntarily been forced to forget about his family, or worse. He carefully thought up a better escape plan, seeing as his two previous attempts had failed with depraved consequences. First he had cajoled his kidnapper into having a private little dinner one evening together – to make him think he was giving in. Then unbeknownst to the villain, the boy found sleep powder and had drugged what they would be drinking for the supper. He was spared from the effects by putting on an act: pretending to spit out his own drink in disgust, having obviously never drunk anything alcoholic before. Needless to say the plan worked. Once the cad slumped over in a deep sleep, the boy made his successful departure. Even so, he became lost in the forest for hours, then he concluded his tale by explaining how he'd suddenly fallen down a hill then into the podling village during a Garthim raid.

He cried because the memories had come flooding back.

All the while, she listened intently. Despite her logical side telling her to be cool and level-headed, within she was a raging storm. How dare he? How dare that…that bounder defile a babe so? How dare he rob that child's innocence, his sense of safety and fairness in this cold world?!

It all made sense now. The fear of the male-like ones, the nightmares, how he'd taken to her a little too soon, the panic attacks to either the idea of a bath or a possible checkup from SkekTek. How could she not have figured it out?

This already happened to one of her sisters with one of the deceased skeksis centuries ago, and almost no one else has believed her. But at least hopefully his pain won't go without being healed…

"My family. They never really came looking for me. Or not that I know of…"

"How can you be so sure?" she inquired. He'd told her what his family was like, what he said didn't add up.

"I remember he told me that he'd seen my family and that they're going to forget about me that it was easier. At least I hoped – still hope they're just lies." He looked downcast.

And there it was trickery of the lowest kind, used to break this child's mind so that he'd more compliant to the coward's debauched fixation with the boy.

"Oh, you poor thing…and you actually believed him?" She asked in the most soothing voice she could muster.

He said nothing, just looked down at his hands sadly.

Something had to done about that thinking. If they were going to find the human researcher, this problem had to be fixed. And she knows just how to go about it… all she had to do was convince one of her allies.

"Since it happened I'm not happy at all. I still have the flashbacks."

"But why? He was the one who hurt you."

"It gets worse, because some of the few times it – it felt good." He shudders "But it was wrong."

She'd frozen then said. "No. If you didn't want it and he forced you into it despite your protests, then it's not your fault. No matter what."

"I just wish he'd stopped pretending he cared about my happiness."

"What is it you want, say it with all the utmost sincerity you can gather up."

For a moment he was quiet, then said, "I want to go home. I want to see my twin sister and my parents, and never leave them until I'm grown."

"At least now you know what you truly want of your free will." She told him, "What happened then isn't going to vanish if we pretend it didn't happen, my si- one of my friends learned that the hard way."

"So what now?"

"I won't say anything for the moment but I fear it won't be long before either the Ritual Master or the Emperor demands how and why you came upon the podling village. Rest assured, details are not necessary just the facts. If that… brazen cur is still out there, perhaps we can shall we say, let the punishment fit the crime?"

Mason looked terrified at the prospect of seeing his kidnapper again – and he sincerely didn't want to imagine what the other skeksis were capable of.

The Barrister looked deep into his eyes, "I know full well what I'm asking of you and that won't be easy for you at all either way. All I ask is that you try."

He nodded, agreeing for her to tell the Emperor but not the rest of the court. The last thing he needed was another reason for the others to stare at him.

* * *

And tell she did. Unfortunately, it meant the poor boy had to be interrogated for confirmation as well. Favorably only two others were present, aside from the Emperor himself, and he flatly stated that he wanted facts not the sordid details word for word. She saw their lips curl and the growing tension but nothing much.

However after they were dismissed and sending Mason to deliver scrolls to the Historian, the Ritual-master raked her across the coals verbally for not getting more out of the boy such as the whereabouts of other human dwellings. She coolly responded with a biting remark before leaving to speak with the Chamberlain.

"I wouldn't get so attached to the waif, Barrister." He said to her deviously, "After all once his Great Uncle is located, he will be one of the first to be drained."

"Do spare me the snide vision, SkekSil, we all know it'll be irrelevant if we cannot influence the boy…" she answered firmly and she told him what she needed him to do. Mainly to make the boy comprehend that the lies abductor had told him about his family were just that: lies attempted to brainwash him into submission.

"You're the only one skillful enough with words to convince him," The Barrister explained, "He must hear it from someone other than myself and we both know SkekOk would only talk him to sleep."

"Mmmm. And just what would you give me if I accept?" he asked with a sly grin.

"I have my subtle ways…" she said coyly and gave him an offer he couldn't refuse.

He agreed, not out of compassion but to display his diplomatic talent and to sway the boy into willingly leading them to the gateway to the humans' realm when the time came. First there was the matter of erasing the painful doubts from his mind…


	7. Epiphany

Mason had been wary when the Barrister called him to confabulate with the Chamberlain – he already knew something was up. The boy wasn't wrong. Although it couldn't be helped seeing as the smiling red garbed skeksis had one of the few present to hear the synthesized version of his story, he didn't feel completely comfortable with this arrangement.

It had started with simple questions about how the abductor talked to him from the Chamberlain, and a reassuring hand on the little one's shoulder on the Barrister's part. Mostly what sort of lies the bounder had been feeding Mason during his imprisonment.

The boy bit his lip dolefully and responded. He already knew that the type of lies Bill told him he'd protect him from the bad stuff out there was the most blatantly obvious. But it was the ones claiming that his family have forgotten him and would stop searching that hurt him bad.

"Do you _trust_ him?"

"No!" the boy cried indignantly then looked sadly uncertain, "I kept hoping my sister or anyone else would come looking for me and save me but they never did. I'm almost afraid that it might be true…"

The red garbed skeksis whimpered calculatingly, it was time to use a little persuasion of his own. And spreading doubt and suspicion was just one of his many specialties.

"Suppose a predator were to carry off a fledgling if you will." He said picking up a small harmless creature before Mason's eyes as an example, "It's parents search high and low without rest, natheless said predator keeps his prey well hidden, telling it if it's progenitors truly cared they ought to be searching for him. Now is it lies or the truth?"

"Well, yeah. The one who took him is the one lying."

"Now listen well and answer, _who_ narcotized you enough so that you would be rendered inert once they brought you to the hideaway?" The Chamberlain asked the boy, as he flicked the small animal in his hands into a crack in the wall to emphasize the question.

Mason grimaced at the memory, "Bill…"

"And _who_ would benefit the most if you were never seen or heard from again?" SkekLiat asked next, her lip curling with disgust at the mention of the cad.

"Bill."

The Chamberlain steepled his fingers. "I think you know now: it's called… _manipulation_."

Like a slow smoldering piece of paper, his doubts and insecurity about his family not finding him began to burn away. But of course, Bill would have had to keep his whereabouts unknown, the better to keep anyone from finding him. Now he felt angry and hurt at the vile way his abductor played with his emotions.

Once SkekSil saw the boy's hands clench into fists upon comprehending the tricks used against him, he knew he'd won.

* * *

Three days had gone by since then, the boy was filled with a little more hope than before despite the continuous nightmares. All that was missing was…

A ringing sound resonated through the halls. SkekLiat raised her head sharply, she knew full well the sound.

"What is that?"

"It's the crystal! Perhaps they found something!" The Herald cried.

Like a kettle of hawks, the skeksis flocked to the palatial Crystal Chamber.

He'd only been there a few times when commanded to do so and the sight of the giant purplish jewel floating above the fiery pit never ceased to take his breath away. Nevertheless something else caught his eye and left him momentarily speechless.

In it he could see the images of a grove with strange standing stones then a small town he couldn't recognize and only one familiar face: his great uncle on the phone, looking worried. Before he could even react to the words the other skeksis were saying, the image rippled showing his home, his bereaved parents speaking on the telephone but no sign of his twin sister…

Where was she? Was she still alive or not? Or worse, did Bill kidnap her in retribution for his escape?

All these thoughts and his homesick emotions overwhelmed him so much, he began to tear up in spite of himself. To the point where he actually reached out towards the Crystal in a vain effort to try and embrace them, scarcely hearing the order to take him out of the chamber or the long arms guiding him away.

The Barrister had quickly pulled him back before he took a wrong step and fall into the shaft. Next, she obeyed that the boy be removed from the room. She led the weeping child out into the hallway just a few yards so she would console him privately. After several soothing words and much gentle nuzzling, he calmed somewhat though the tears continued to fall.

"Sometimes the sickness of despair can fester within you but it can be cured!" she said gently placing his face in her hands, "Your happiness lies beyond these walls that much I know as much as it pains me. However the road towards it depends on your seeing your family again and of your recovery."

No sooner had she sent him to her chambers that two of the others would start viciously tormenting her, calling her weak and pathetic for the way she treated the boy.

"Are you so easily swayed by the young ones that you begin to coddle every brat that comes your way?" taunted SkekNa the Slave driver.

"Do you have any idea what the child goes through? He feels ill and cries every night the nightmares begin. Anytime one of the more 'masculine' ones pass by him, he shivers uncontrollably in fear. It's so bad that he's too afraid to leave the castle unescorted even if it means being in _your_ company."

"Ha! Still pining for your deceased infant?" SkekUng gibed, "And you think the human waif is your second chance to get it right? Well he's damaged as we are."

Oh, really now that one was a low blow!

Before she knew the dejected words flew out of her mouth. "That's so typical and easy to say isn't it?! You know nothing! There isn't a deep, gaping hole in you where your heart used to be is there?!"

It wasn't fair. They couldn't possibly know what it was like to await the arrival of new life with eager joy only for it to die before having a chance to live. That horrible law, she wouldn't be suffering such misery if they'd been allowed to breed and have children like the other sentient beings of Thra.

Had she her way this instant, she'd have kept both the boy and his sister as her surrogate brood. Only to chide herself for such thoughts; they would still be surrounded by plots and treachery at every turn, aside from the fact that she will outlive them. Also the boy needed to heal from the nightmarish ordeal he'd gone through, and he won't effectuate it by staying in the castle.


	8. Searching

He'd searched high and low for his Pinetree to no avail. It was as if the boy vanished into thin air.

Perhaps if he threatens his family, his beloved would come out of hiding… He left for the Pines family house with murderous intent. But to his shock, for some strange reason, the house was empty. They couldn't have moved, almost everything else was still here.

Where could they have gone?

Upon inquiring a neighbor he learned that the sister had run away and that the parents were at the police station making statements. Drat. That only complicated things.

What was worse, in less than one hour his time in this physical shape would soon be up. He only had till midnight when the summer solstice – the demon feast would begin and he couldn't afford to miss that.

Now he'd have to go back to the mindscape and wait to be summoned. Oh, but this wasn't the end not by a long shot. No.

He'll be biding his time. Once his plans for this world bear fruition, he would find Pinetree and drag him back. And this time, he was going to make doubly sure not to lose him again.

Until then he'll be watching them…

* * *

Her mind was made up.

In the following weeks she'd gone over all the clues she found and the conversations she'd overhead between the police and her parents. They had told them they shouldn't expect too much. Her father seems to have given up, saying they want to remember her twin brother as a happy memory not a painful reminder that'll darken their lives. But she can't, not so long as she knows Dipper was still alive. That was yet another reason why she can't stop searching, especially now that she has a true lead.

That's why she had to take this crazy risk before they sent her to her Great Uncle in Oregon this summer. She eventually kept coming back to the store every day and it looks like her patience finally paid off. She saw that strange man again – the one who'd given her the death glare once and had haunted her memories. Except now she knew when she'd be able to tail him. It had begun as an intricate plan, she packed her backpack with supplies, charged her cellphone and set the alarm clock to wake her early. When it went off she got up, took her bag, left a note on her bed for her parents and snuck out.

Bingo! There he was, she'd discreetly followed him on foot, being careful to stay out of sight. Soon her suspect walked into a house within a vast forestal extension. That's definitely a good hiding spot for a kidnapper and his victim.

However, she had to duck into the shrubs quickly when she saw him come out again. She sat perfectly still in the bush and waited till the man climbed back into his car and disappeared on the road.

Fortunately she found an easy way in, through an open floor window. She had some snooping to do as fast as she could. She shuffled around the living room, the kitchen then ducked into the master bedroom. What she found rifling through the closet was enough to make her gag in disgust; but it left no clue to her brother's whereabouts.

Maybe this was just the kidnapper's main quarters and had her brother somewhere else—she accidentally hit something that sounded hollow on the wall.

Wait a minute. There was a secret room in there. She found the door hidden behind a shelf and pushed it open. There were some stairs of three steps, a child sized bed, a small TV set and bookshelf in two separate corners, except… the creepy part was the walls were all covered with pictures of her twin!

Aaaugh! This was worse than a nightmare! She'd frozen in horror at first then took deep breaths to calm down, she had to take some pictures as evidence or no one would believe her. She took out her cell and began snapping as many pictures needed.

Now she had to leave and show the cops what she found. Yet that still leaves one question: where was her brother?

Yipe!

She just happened to gaze out the window, and he was coming back!

Now that she knew he's responsible, if he found her in the house… She had to hide, get out of here! Frantic she skidded to halt to where she'd seen the floor window and squeezed out just as the front door opened.

She ran as faster than she believed capable of, terrified out of her wits and not seeing that she was headed straight for the forest. But she was much too scared of the creep finding her to stop.

The moment she was a safe distance away she stopped to catch her breath. Phew! That was too close for comfort. And that should be her cue to return home…

But as she stood up, she noticed she'd strayed too far from the road. She looked around unconsciously taking a step forward under an arbor –

And then she fell with a flash that nearly blinded her.

Down she rolled until she was half laying over a fallen log. She pushed herself up, brushing the leaves off her. She glanced upwards to the sky but was unable to see because of the trees.

Well, she can't stay here, the best she could do is climb up that small hill and get a look where she is. It was quite a climb up there but when she did, what she saw over the horizon made her heart sink.

The view from the hill was not the suburbs she knew well but a great glen full of trees, tors and a river she did not recognize.

Oh no, she was lost in the woods. If she'd looked up she would've noticed that there wasn't just one but three suns up in the sky…

 ** _To be concluded…_**


	9. Lost and found

T'was not long before the small expedition towards the gateway leading to the human world had begun; as a way to study their possible victims and find the Researcher. The boy himself wore the clothes he'd arrived with, only three skeksis would be on this trek: At the head was SkekUng, followed SkekArra the sentry and the Barrister herself. It also meant they'd be traveling with the giant crab things – the Garthim as they're called. He was just glad SkekLiat (wearing the equivalent of an indigo niqab) was with him – several of the others weren't interested in venturing out of the castle unless absolutely necessary. Soon they'd separated into groups to cover more ground. He wondered how long before they reached their destination?

He got his answer when they reached a virtually small glade – but just a few yards ahead in a circular formation of branches and brambles was what looked like a window to the human world. It was the same town he'd seen in the Dark Crystal days ago!

This is it, they made it! Although the Barrister looked a little forlorn.

"Dipper!"

He looked up at the sound of his nickname. That sounded like…

Just then the Garthim started moving threatening towards something – and it was his sister!

"Mabel, watch out!"

Quickly, the alarmed Barrister strode forward and ordered them back.

* * *

It's already been hours since she'd last seen civilization. Sure the idea not being able to find her way home was bad enough but returning without her brother made her want to cry.

When all seemed lost she heard something. It was like clicking and clacking all at once, and it was getting louder by the minute. For a moment she'd froze, too stunned to react. Among them she saw something else that caught her eye: a tall figure in a long indigo wrap that lowered part of the cloth from its head. It looked like a large bird of prey with wavy coppery hair.

As one of the large black beetles moves away, she recognized the boy whose shoulder her hand was on as her brother!

Without thinking, she called out his nickname and sped towards him.

He'd started in surprise, then cried a warning just as the shelled things started moving menacingly in her direction.

She saw the bird creature in a purple robes stride forward and raise a taloned hand to the giant crabs, " _Mala! Éla páfsi_!"

Once they stopped, she ran to her stunned brother enveloping him in a tight hug. "I was afraid I'd never find you!"

"It _is_ you!" He sobbed, hugging her back just as tightly, confirming that it's not a wishful dream.

They embraced in happy tears, the Barrister watched morosely. She knew now what had to be done.

"But what're they? And who's' that?" His sister pointed to the Garthim and to the Barrister.

"That's a long, long story…"

"You'll know soon enough…" The Barrister replied solemnly then kneeled down to whisper something that left them both astonished.

* * *

It was sunset, the mystery shack owner was closing the shack until the next morning. It was a profitable day but the news he'd received regarding his great niece and nephew left him sorrowful and a lot more gruff than usual. He couldn't really blame his great niece for taking off like she did. Heavens knows he'd have done the exact same thing for…

Well, he had to remain focused on the present for them and as much as it frustrates him, leave it up to the authorities.

He looked around briefly then sighed and walked in.

"Great Uncle Stan!"

"Grunkle Stan!"

The first time he heard the shouts, he thought he was just dreaming or hallucinating. However when he heard it three more times, he pushed open the door abruptly.

Hurrying towards them from the forest bushes were his great niece and nephew! They looked roughed up and tired, but relatively unharmed from what he can see.

Both children rushed up and threw themselves at him and vice versa. The older man was holding them protectively then released them so that they could get in and let their parents know they were safe.

When their Grunkle wasn't looking, the young twins glanced back at the forest where the female skeksis was half-hidden behind a tree. She raised a finger to her beak signaling silence on her presence, at least for the moment.

The brother nodded solemnly and his sister smiled and winked before they both waved goodbye, and entered the shack after their great uncle. For now they had so much to talk about.

Yes, the world is cruel and wicked… but only because of terrible people and things that make it so. And many don't wish for the children to know of the dangers, that's why we must proceed with caution. It only takes a second or just an ordinary day for our children to be exposed to them or have them taken away.

Try to imagine a mother's grief when they've stolen her child away. No words can describe that excruciating pain. The grief, the impotence, the emptiness that comes with the loss of a child, because there is no true heart of a mother prepared for such a loss.

Releasing them broke her heart, yet she knew that not matter just how badly she wanted to keep both children with her in the castle, it was impossible. The boy still needed to heal from his previous nightmarish experience, he was better off with his kinsfolk. Yet she also knew it wouldn't be long before the Garthim hordes would begin invading that little town once her clan finds the true location of the human that had escaped their grasp decades ago. She remembers full well what he looked like, and the old man wasn't him – but a blood relative no doubt there. That was why she made this difficult choice.

She discreetly warned the children of what was to come then only revealed to her clan the area where other humans could be found while deliberately keeping the opening leading to the Shack well hidden from the Garthim and the crystal bats. She could very well be facing banishment or death for this risk, but it won't matter. The Great conjunction wasn't that far, by then she'll be rejuvenated and can very well make a life for herself afterwards.

Then there was the fact of that villain who'd taken the boy was still out there. Mabel's photos were enough to convince the police into investigate the house with an arrest warrant; they found the hidden room and other evidence but no sign of the scoundrel. There would come a time when the child, his family and his friends would soon confront this monster face to face. But that was another story…


End file.
